MEASURING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF TOURISM: TRANSITION FROM TOURISM SATELLITE ACCOUNT (TSA) TO TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY SATELLITE ACCOUNT (TSSA) / MJERENJE ODRZIVOSTI TURIZMA: OD SATELITSKOG RACUNA TURIZMA (TSA) DO SATELITSKOG RACUNA ODRZIVOSTI TURIZMA (TSSA)

Based on the principles of national accounting, The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is an internationally harmonized method of measuring the direct economic contributions of tourism consumption to a national economy. The tourism satellite account recently became an integral part of official Croatian statistics. This enabled an important integral analysis of the relationship between the demand for goods and services by visitors and the supply of such goods and services in an economy in which, as in almost all Adriatic countries, tourism is the key driver of growth. At the same time, the understanding of analytical boundaries and limitations of the tourism satellite account, especially overtourism issues, imposed the need for the development of a similar platform that can provide a more comprehensive understanding of both the positive and negative effects of tourism. This paper examines key elements and challenges of the methodological framework of tourism sustainability satellite account (TSSA) as a rigorous and consistent analytical apparatus that enables a comparative assessment of the direct effects of tourism on the economy, but also on the environment. The structure of the TSSA should, starting from key principles of national and environmental economic accounting, integrate the core tourism satellite tables and environmental tables including accounts of water flows, energy flows, GHG emissions, and solid waste. The discussion of the TSSA methodological framework also includes issues related to system boundaries and measurement approaches, such as definitions of tourism and the possibilities of linking the domestic principle on which the TSA calculation is based, and the territorial principle, which is key to assessing the impact of inbound and domestic tourism on the environment. The paper ends with an analysis of the relationship between tourism sustainability satellite accounts, as a harmonized system of tourism and environmental accounts that significantly contributes to the quality of indicator of tourism activity, and the UNWTO Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MTS) initiative.